Headsound: Balloon Ascents - Cutout

Sofar sounds made a welcome debut in Cambridge at the weekend. The global movement curates monthly gigs in living rooms and other unconventional venues in 86 cities worldwide with more being added all the time.

Oxford group Balloon Ascents were an uplifting opener, harmonising dreamy pop melodies and helping the 20 odd audience members squeezed onto the living room floor to forget the cramps and backache.

The band have previously played Sofar in Oxford and are set to play more dates around Europe in the Summer. Cutout is one of several songs on their Soundcloud page.

Headsound: Douglas Dare - Swim

The dark electronica of Radiohead and celestial beauty of Sigur Ross come together on this track from Douglas Dare's debut album Whelm. It has all the depth and texture you would expect from a new signee to Erased Tapes - home to Nils Frahm.

Classical piano, electronics and Dare's soft vocals slowly engulf the listener. It feels like a house anthem  constructed more intricately and delicately, never getting too loud or intense. The track is available as a free download and Whelm is out on May 12th.

Headsound: Gaze is Ghost - Untitled

A treat for the eyes as well as the ears as Irish singer-songwriter Laura McGarrigle aka Gaze Is Ghost previews a new song in The Leper Chapel. Harmonium, ambient guitar and McGarrigle's haunting vocals creep up and engulf the listener for a few beautiful dreamy moments.


In the session for Brother Bear she also performed this cover of David Bowie's Heroes.

Headsound: Nick Mulvey - Cucurucu

Nick Mulvey's music first appeared on Headstand six years ago. Now his latest single Cucurucu can be heard everywhere. From a softly spoken intro a multi-textured song builds interwoven with African rhythms and South American melodies. He offers the discerning listener a far richer sound than the average singer-songwriter. Cucurucu is released on 3rd of March and his debut album comes out on 4th May.

Buy on iTunes:

Headsound: Heart of a Dog - HOSS

Shindig returns to St Philips Mill Road on Friday 14th February. Readers of this blog will be familiar with Wooden Arms and Tom Adams but sandwiched in between are Norwich duo Heart of a Dog.
HOSS is four minutes of weightless melodies and rhythms unexpectedly shifting under different currents. It fades halfway through then returns with twice as much power. Vocals echo over pounding chords. This is acoustic pop that keeps you on your toes and you can grab this song as a free download.

Show: Wooden Arms and Many Poets

Alex from Wooden Arms by Matt Widgery

This show features recordings from the recent Shindig/Allographic gig at the Unitarian Church featuring Wooden Arms accompanying the best poets from Cambridge and around. Wooden Arms play the next Shindig event on February 14th. Details here.

You can hear all recordings from the night at shallowrecords.co.uk.

Shindig/Allographic Special with Wooden Arms and many poets by Headstand on Mixcloud

Headsound: Kaninchen - Broke Up

Duo Craig Taylor-Broad and Chris Trevena recorded their latest EP in warehouses and public toilets to accent the perfect amount of natural reverb to fit a single vocal part.
The five intertwined tracks blend poetic monologues, movie dialogue with atmospheric instrumental arrangements.
The duo are from Cornwall but their sound draws on Scottish influences Belle and Sebastian, Arab Strap, Mogwai and Boards of Canada.

Headsound: Cloneliness - Sights

Osaka based Canadian-French artist and musician Charles-Eric Billard has regularly featured on Headstand since the beginning in various guises. His improvisations on found and homemade instruments intrigue with skewed sounds and mesmerising rhythms.

His latest pieces released under solo monika Cloneliness are smoother and more melodic. Acoustic and electronic elements blend into finely crafted performances though still with a refreshing touch of spontaneity. Enjoy the concise 'Sights' then delve deeper into his recordings on Soundcloud.

Events this week

This week kicks of with acoustic night Strummers at CB2. You may have heard Strummers and Dreamers on Cambridge 105 if you tuned in early for Headstand. Les Ray presents Nick Stephenson, a fine young songwriter from St. Albans. Details here.
Two regular events return this week. Hammer and Tongue is back on at The Fountain this Wednesday with featured acts Adam Kammerling and Sam Berkson. Last month's slam was one of the best ever with a full line up of slammers delivering performance poetry in a variety of styles. Details and tickets here.
On Friday Shindig returns to St Philips on Mill Road with more music and art including Clorinde, Sunwølf and Hollow Mountain. Read a review of the last one here and get all the details of Friday's gig and how to buy tickets here.

Show: 10.2.13 with The Doozer

This show features four songs live in the studio by local musician The Doozer. The show also featured a wealth of new music from Suede, Temples, The Bitter Springs and Marnie Stern as well a song from the new Fuzzy Lights album. The band have been getting played all over Cambridge 105 and some of the bigger stations too.

Supergrass - Richard III
Suede - Barriers
Fuzzy Lights - Restless
The Doozer - Live session
Temples - Shelter Song
Luke Wright - The Luck of the Brungers
The Doozer - Live session
The Beastie Boys - Dr Lee, PHD
The Bitter Springs - The Mollycoddled Laughs
The Doozer - Live session
Marnie Stern - Year of Glad
Rue Royale - Blame
Kraftwerk - Aerodynamik

10.2.13 with The Doozer by Headstand on Mixcloud

Show: 2.12.12 with Geoffrey Heptonstall

This show featured special guest Geoffrey Heptonstall making a return to the show. I don't see Geoffrey out as much as some poets and it was great to be reminded not only what a great poet he is but also a very fine reader as you'll hear in the show.
The programme also featured a poem by Wayne Holloway Smith and we launched the Christmas season with a beautiful rendition of Deck The Halls by Rue Royale from their Christmas EP which you can listen to and download here.
The programme finished with some laid back electronica from Cambridge-based Tom Adams and Ian Handsley, a DJ I used to see out and about in Osaka. He now makes lush ambient music under the name enh. You can find more of his music here.

Elbow - High Ideals
Prince Rama - Those Who Live For Love Will Live For Ever
DJ Incidental - Uh La Lai
Louis Armstrong & The Hot Five - Struttin’ With Some Barbecue
Wayne Holloway Smith - Cutting a Figure (1.30)
Lester J. Allen - Good Old Luton Town
Rue Royale - Deck The Halls
Anna Silvera - Snow Queen
Billy Bragg - She Smiled Sweetly
Charly “The City Mouse” Fasano - Laundry Day
Tom Adams - Through the lens I see the great cliffs, we are close now.
enh - Within You

2.12.12 with Geoffrey Heptonstall by Headstand on Mixcloud

The Spaghetti Faction and John Guy on the show this Sunday

This week's show features the last of the material recorded for the show's fifth anniversary celebrations. There's an acoustic set from the Spaghetti Faction. You can hear some of their music by going to this post. There will also be poetry from John Guy who was unable to attend the Fountain but recorded some of his poems at home. This show features a reading John did a couple of years ago. Scroll down for a poem by The Spaghetti Faction's Phil Doran.

22.4.12 with John Guy by Headstand on Mixcloud

 

BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING

- Everything starts with a big bang,
said the cosmologist.

- Everything starts with a little push,
said the midwife.

- Everything starts with a business plan,
said the businessman.

 

- Iverything estart wiv begining,
said the beginner.

- 'Everything' starts with an 'E',
said the teacher.
 

 

Phil Doran